What is the Tomatometer®?

The Tomatometer rating – based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and
television critics – is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality
for millions of moviegoers. It represents the percentage of professional critic reviews
that are positive for a given film or television show.

From the Critics

From RT Users Like You!

Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

Rotten

The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

Certified Fresh

Movies and TV shows are Certified Fresh with a steady Tomatometer of 75% or
higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide-release movies, 40 for
limited-release movies, 20 for TV shows), including 5 reviews from Top Critics.

AUDIENCE SCORE

The Wiz Photos

Movie Info

Dorothy, a young African-American kindergarten teacher leaves a large family dinner one night to chase after her dog during a New York City snowstorm and gets swept up by a cyclone and transplanted to the urban version of the land of Oz.

Audience Reviews for The Wiz

½

With the charm bringing by the stars and the director Lumet, The Wiz, isn't a film really good. Showing along the picture an expectable end and apparent offend the intelligence of the audience, just like the scenes where Scarecrow, desperate for a brain, clearly presents beautiful citations and most of the ideas, as like Tinman crying and want a heart and the coward Lion exhibit an great courage. Neither L. Frank Baum's novel and the 1939 version show to be so expectable. The screenplay by Joel Schumacher are weak, but in some moments presents criatives parts. The dog that make the character of Toto is terrible too with awful trained, Ross have a few good scenes, but her acting flaw too, Dorothy looks old and neurotic. The slowed and dramatic song perform by her leave the film boring and rotten, by the way the "Ease On Down the Road" sing by Dorothy and Scarecrow are very good, but very repeat. Another songs are nice, what better the movie, the same thing with the art direction, cinematograhy and costumes are perfect. Richard Pryor and Ted Ross presents a good actings too, for me the best in the picture. The Wiz is a nice movie, but could be much, much better. Anyway Sidney Lumet's version impress for his criative dark humor, some good songs, the all cast formed of black actors - another criative thing in this film -, the art direction and the hard attempt of Schumacher and Lumet on make an terrific movie, what unfortunately isn't, but this is for me a little cult piece of art with surrealism and smart minds. Rotten.

Lucas Martins

Super Reviewer

You're thinking: "they updated the original ... with an all black cast?!?" and you would be right. Surprisingly though this version offers competent take on by now hallowed material with engaging musical numbers and winning portrayals. There only one drawback really that keeps this one buried in the dustbin of forgotten films and that's Diana Ross' age. She's the elephant in the room, almost nearly talented enough to make you forget, but not quite enough. Misses it by that much.

Kevin M. Williams

Super Reviewer

Other than a few moments here and there, time has not been kind to this Motown spectacle.

Randy Tippy

Super Reviewer

This is one of those movies people either love or hate, personally I hated it when I saw it as a kid, it seemed to me that this was just the Wizard of Oz with an all black cast, and I didn't see the reason for it. Plus, it has a totally different, and very strange, kind of style that I just couldn't understand. I hated it, but I may give it another try someday.